So last night, I decided to try and learn dvorak. It's going to take a couple of days to get up to speed, but after only 2 hours on ICQ with it, I'm up to about 20wpm. If you're interested in learning, I found the best way is to save your current keymap to a file using: xmodmap -pke > keyboard.default Then grab http://www.signal15.com/keyboard.dvorak and type "xmodmap keyboard.dvorak". Then print out http://www.signal15.com/dvorak.gif and tape it to the top of your monitor. Then just start chatting on IRC or ICQ, or type up some emails. Only look at the map on your monitor if you forget where a key is. After about two hours or so of solid typing, you should be able to type without even looking at the map. I tried a couple of typing tutor programs, but they sucked compared to this method. To switch back to the qwerty, just type "xmodmap keyboard.default". Unfortunately, I haven't switched over at work yet because 20wpm isn't fast enough. And supposedly, you're supposed to only use Dvorak when you're learning or it'll take much longer, but I guess I'll take my chances. Someone posted this link on Slashdot in a comment yesterday, which was what convinced me to try to learn it: http://www.acm.vt.edu/~jmaxwell/dvorak/keyboard.html (must have java working) Another interesting thing I found was the one-handed dvorak layouts. Apparently, using these keymaps, some people can get 80wpm using only one hand. It would be nice to be able to put one hand on the keyboard and keep the other on the trackball. :) Jay
